The boy with the green satchel said that apples had a smooth, tightskin, which kept out the wet, but he did not see how they were guardedfrom animals.

The master said it was by their taste. "They are hard and sour beforethey are full grown, and so the taste is not pleasant, and nobody wishesto eat them, except sometimes a few foolish boys, and these are punishedby being made sick. When the apples are full grown, they change fromsour to sweet, and become mellow--then they can be eaten. Can you tellme of any other fruits which are preserved in this way?"

One boy answered, "Strawberries and blackberries;" and another said,"Peaches and pears."

Another boy asked why the peach-stone was not outside the peach, so asto keep it from being eaten; but the master said that he would explainthis another time. Then he dismissed the scholars, after asking Roger towait until the rest had gone, as he wished to see him alone.

Several of the articles which follow were communicated for this work bydifferent teachers, at the request of the author.

11. THE SERIES OF WRITING LESSONS.--Very many pupils soon become wearyof the dull and monotonous business of writing, unless some plans aredevised to give interest and variety to the exercise; and, on thisaccount, this branch of education, in which improvement may be mostrapid, is often the last and most tedious to be acquired.

A teacher, by adopting the following plan, succeeded in awakening agreat degree of interest on the subject, and, consequently, of promotingrapid improvement. The plan was this: he prepared, on a large sheet ofpaper, a series of lessons in coarse-hand, beginning with straightlines, and proceeding to the elementary parts of the various letters,and finally to the letters themselves. This paper was posted up in apart of the room accessible to all.

The writing-books were made of three sheets of foolscap paper, foldedinto a convenient size, making twenty-four pages in the book. The bookswere to be ruled by the pupil, for it was thought important that eachshould learn this art. Every pupil in school, then, being furnished withone of these writing-books, was required to commence this series, and topractice each lesson until he could write it well; then, and not tillthen, he was permitted to pass to the next. A few brief directions weregiven under each lesson on the large sheet. For example, under the lineof straight marks, which constituted the first lesson, was written asfollows:

_Straight, equidistant, parallel, smooth, well-terminated._

These directions were to call the attention of the pupil to theexcellences which he must aim at, and when he supposed he had securedthem, his book was to be presented to the teacher for examination. Ifapproved, the word _Passed_, or, afterward, simply _P_., was writtenunder the line, and he could then proceed to the next lesson. Otherrequisites were necessary, besides the correct formation of the letters,to enable one to pass; for example, the page must not be soiled orblotted, no paper must be wasted, and, in no case, a leaf torn out. Assoon as _one line_ was written in the manner required, the scholar wasallowed to pass. In a majority of cases, however, not less than a pagewould be practiced, and in many instances a sheet would be covered,before one line could be produced which would be approved.

One peculiar excellency of this method was, that although the wholeschool were working under a regular and systematic plan, individualscould go on independently; that is, the progress of no scholar wasretarded by that of his companion; the one more advanced might easilypass the earlier lessons in a few days, while the others would requireweeks of practice to acquire the same degree of skill.

During the writing-hour the scholars would practice each at the lessonwhere he left off before, and at a particular time each day the bookswere brought from the regular place of deposit and laid before theteacher for examination. Without some arrangement for an examination ofall the books together, the teacher would be liable to interruption atany time from individual questions and requests, which would consumemuch time, and benefit only a few.

When a page of writing could not pass, a brief remark, calling theattention of the pupil to the faults which prevented it, was sometimesmade in pencil at the bottom of the page. In other cases, the fault wasof such a character as to require full and minute oral directions to thepupil. At last, to facilitate the criticism of the writing, a set ofarbitrary marks, indicative of the various faults, was devised andapplied, as occasion might require, to the writing-books, by means ofred ink.

These marks, which were very simple in their character, were easilyremembered, for there was generally some connection between the signand the thing signified. For example, the mark denoting that letterswere too short was simply lengthening them in red ink; a faulty curvewas denoted by making a new curve over the old one, &c. The followingare the principal criticisms and directions for which marks werecontrived:

Strokes rough. Too tall or too short. Curve wrong. Stems not straight. Bad termination Careless work. Too slanting, and the reverse. Paper wasted. Too broad, and the reverse. Almost well enough to pass. Not parallel. Bring your book to the teacher. Form of the letter bad. Former fault not corrected. Large stroke made too fine, and the reverse.

A catalogue of these marks, with an explanation, was made out and placedwhere it was accessible to all, and by means of them the books could bevery easily and rapidly, but thoroughly criticised.

After the plan had gone on for some time, and its operation was fullyunderstood, the teacher gave up the business of examining the books intothe hands of a committee, appointed by him from among the older and moreadvanced pupils. That the committee might be unbiased in their judgment,they were required to examine and decide upon the books without knowingthe names of the writers. Each scholar was, indeed, required to placeher name on the right hand upper corner of every page of herwriting-book, for the convenience of the distributors; but this cornerwas turned down when the book was brought in, that it might not be seenby the committee.

This committee was invested with plenary powers, and there was no appealfrom their decision. In case they exercised their authority in animproper way, or failed on any account to give satisfaction, they wereliable to impeachment, but while they continued in office they were tobe strictly obeyed.

This plan went on successfully for three months, and with very littlediminution of interest. The whole school went regularly through thelessons in coarse-hand, and afterward through a similar series infine-hand, and improvement in this branch was thought to be greater thanat any former period in the same length of time.

The same principle of arranging the several steps of an art or a studyinto a series of lessons, and requiring the pupil to pass regularly fromone to the other, might easily be applied to other studies, and wouldafford an agreeable variety.

12. THE CORRESPONDENCE.--A master of a district school was walkingthrough the room with a large rule in his hands, and as he came upbehind two small boys, he observed that they were playing with somepapers. He struck them once or twice, though not very severely, on thehead with the rule which he had in his hand. Tears started from the eyesof one. They were called forth by a mingled feeling of grief,mortification, and pain. The other, who was of "sterner stuff," lookedsteadily into the master's face, and when his back was turned, shook hisfist at him and laughed in defiance.

Another teacher, seeing a similar case, did nothing. The boys, when theysaw him, hastily gathered up their playthings and put them away. An houror two after, a little boy, who sat near the master, brought them a noteaddressed to them both. They opened it, and read as follows:

"To EDWARD AND JOHN,--I observed, when I passed you to-day, from yourconcerned looks, and your hurried manner of putting something into yourdesk, that you were doing something that you knew was wrong. When youattempt to do any thing whatever which conscience tells you is wrong,you only make yourself uneasy and anxious while you do it, and then youare forced to resort to concealment and deception when you see mecoming. You would be a great deal happier if you would always be doingyour duty, and then you would never be afraid. Your affectionateteacher,----."

As the teacher was arranging his papers in his desk at the close ofschool, he found a small piece of paper neatly folded up in the form ofa note, and addressed to him. He read as follows:

"DEAR TEACHER,--We are very much obliged to you for writing us a note.We were making a paper box. We know it was wrong, and are determined notto do so any more. We hope you will forgive us.

"Your pupils, EDWARD, JOHN."

Which of these teachers understood human nature best?

13. WEEKLY REPORTS.--The plan described by the following article, whichwas furnished by a teacher for insertion here, was originally adopted,so far as I know, in a school on the Kennebec. I have adopted it withgreat advantage.

A teacher had one day been speaking to her scholars of certain cases ofslight disorder in the school, which, she remarked, had been graduallycreeping in, and which, as she thought, it devolved upon the scholars,by systematic efforts, to repress. She enumerated instances of disorderin the arrangement of the rooms, leaving the benches out of theirplaces, throwing waste papers upon the floor, having the desk indisorder inside, spilling water upon the entry floor, irregulardeportment, such as too loud talking or laughing in recess, or in theintermission at noon, or when coming to school, and making unnecessarynoise in going to or returning from recitations.

"I have a plan to propose," said the teacher, "which I think may be thepleasantest way of promoting a reform in things of this kind. It isthis. Let several of your number be chosen a committee to preparestatedly--perhaps as often as once a week--a written report of the stateof the school. The report might be read before the school at the closeof each week. The committee might consist, in the whole, of seven oreight, or even of eleven or twelve individuals, who should take thewhole business into their hands. This committee might appointindividuals of their number to write in turn each week. By thisarrangement, it would not be known to the school generally who are thewriters of any particular report, if the individuals wish to beanonymous. Two individuals might be appointed at the beginning of theweek, who should feel it their business to observe particularly thecourse of things from day to day with reference to the report.Individuals not members of the committee can render assistance by anysuggestions they may present to this committee. These should, however,generally be made in writing.

"Subjects for such a report will be found to suggest themselves veryabundantly, though you may not perhaps think so at first. The committeemay be empowered not only to state the particulars in which things aregoing wrong, but the methods by which they may be made right. Let thempresent us with any suggestions they please. If we do not like them, weare not obliged to adopt them. For instance, it is generally the case,whenever a recitation is attended in the corner yonder, that an end ofone of the benches is put against the door, so as to occasion a seriousinterruption to the exercises when a person wishes to come in or go out.It would come within the province of the committee to attend to such acase as this, that is, to bring it up in the report. The remedy in sucha case is a very simple one. Suppose, however, that instead of the_simple_ remedy, our committee should propose that the classes recitingin the said corner should be dissolved and the studies abolished? Weshould know the proposal was an absurd one, but then it would do nohurt; we should have only to reject it.

"Again, besides our faults, let our committee notice the respects inwhich we are doing particularly well, that we may be encouraged to go ondoing well, or even to do better. If they think, for example, that weare deserving of credit for the neatness with which books are kept--fortheir freedom from blots, or scribblings, or dog's-ears, by whichschool-books are so commonly defaced, let them tell us so. And the sameof any other excellence."

With the plan as thus presented, the scholars were very much pleased. Itwas proposed by one individual that such a committee should be appointedimmediately, and a report prepared for the ensuing week. This was done.The committee were chosen by ballot. The following may be taken as aspecimen of their reports:

WEEKLY REPORT.

"The Committee appointed to write the weekly report have noticed severalthings which they think wrong. In the first place, there have been agreater number of tardy scholars during the past week than usual. Muchof this tardiness, we suppose, is owing to the interest felt in buildingthe bower; but we think this business ought to be attended to only inplay-hours. If only one or two come in late when we are reading in themorning, or after we have composed ourselves to study at the close ofthe recess, every scholar must look up from her book--we do not say theyought to do so, but only that they will do so. However, we anticipate animprovement in this respect, as we know 'a word to the wise issufficient.'

"In the two back rows we are sorry to say that we have noticedwhispering. We know that this fact will very much distress our teacher,as she expects assistance, and not trouble, from our older scholars. Itis not our business to reprove any one's misconduct, but it is our dutyto mention it, however disagreeable it may be. We think the youngerscholars, during the past week, have much improved in this respect. Onlythree cases of whispering among them have occurred to our knowledge.

"We remember some remarks made a few weeks ago by our teacher on thepractice of prompting each other in the classes. We wish she wouldrepeat them, for we fear that, by some, they are forgotten. In the classin Geography, particularly in the questions on the map, we have noticedsly whispers, which, we suppose, were the hints of some kind frienddesigned to refresh the memory of her less attentive companion. Wepropose that the following question be now put to vote. Shall thepractice of prompting in the classes be any longer continued?

"We would propose that we have a composition exercise _this_ weeksimilar to the one on Thursday last. It was very interesting, and wethink all would be willing to try their thinking powers once more. Wewould propose, also, that the readers of the compositions should sitnear the centre of the room, as last week many fine sentences escapedthe ears of those seated in the remote corners.

"We were requested by a very public-spirited individual to mention oncemore the want of three nails, for bonnets, in the entry. Also, to saythat the air from the broken pane of glass on the east side of the roomis very unpleasant to those who sit near.

"Proposed that the girls who exhibited so much taste and ingenuity inthe arrangement of the festoons of evergreen, and tumblers of flowersaround the teacher's desk, be now requested to remove the faded rosesand drooping violets. We have gazed on these sad emblems long enough.

"Finally, proposed that greater care be taken by those who stay at noonto place their dinner-baskets in proper places. The contents of morethan one were partly strewed upon the entry floor this morning."

If such a measure as this is adopted, it should not be continueduninterrupted for a very long time. Every thing of this sort should beoccasionally changed, or it sooner or later becomes only a form.

14. THE SHOPPING EXERCISE.--I have often, when going a shopping, founddifficulty and trouble in making change. I could never calculate veryreadily, and in the hurry and perplexity of the moment I was alwaysmaking mistakes. I have heard others often make the same complaint, andI resolved to try the experiment of regularly teaching children to makechange. I had a bright little class in Arithmetic, the members of whichwere always ready to engage with interest in any thing new, and to themI proposed my plan. It was to be called the Shopping Exercise. I firstrequested each individual to write something upon her slate which shewould like to buy, if she was going a shopping, stating the quantity shewished and the price of it. To make the first lesson as simple aspossible, I requested no one to go above ten, either in the quantity orprice. When all were ready, I called upon some to read what she hadwritten. Her next neighbor was then requested to tell us how much thepurchase would amount to. Then the first one named a bill, which shesupposed to be offered in payment, and the second showed what change wasneeded. A short specimen of the exercise will probably make it clearerthan mere description.

_Mary_. Eight ounces of candy at seven cents.

_Susan_. Fifty-six cents.

_Mary_. One dollar.

_Susan_. Forty-four cents.

* * * * *

_Susan_. Nine yards of lace at eight cents.

_Anna_. Seventy-two cents.

_Susan_. Two dollars.

_Anna_. One dollar and twenty-eight cents.

* * * * *

_Anna_. Three pieces of tape at five cents.

_Jane_. Fifteen cents.

_Anna_. Three dollars.

_Jane_. Eighty-five cents.

_Several voices_. Wrong.

_Jane_. Two dollars and eighty-five cents.

* * * * *

_Jane_. Six pictures at eight cents.

_Sarah_. Forty-two cents.

_Several voices_. Wrong.

_Sarah_. Forty-eight cents.

_Jane_. One dollar.

_Sarah_. Sixty-two cents.

_Several voices_. Wrong.

_Sarah_. Fifty-two cents.

* * * * *

It will be perceived that the same individual who names the article andthe price names also the bill which she would give in payment; and theone who sits next her, who calculated the amount, calculated also thechange to be returned. She then proposed _her_ example to the one nextin the line, with whom the same course was pursued, and thus it passeddown the class.

The exercise went on for some time in this way, till the pupils hadbecome so familiar with it that I thought it best to allow them to takehigher numbers. They were always interested in it, and made greatimprovement in a short time, and I myself derived great advantage fromlistening to them.

There is one more circumstance I will add which may contribute to theinterest of this account. While the class were confined, in what theypurchased, to the number ten, they were sometimes inclined to turn theexercise into a frolic. The variety of articles which they could findcosting less than ten cents was so small, that, for the sake of gettingsomething new, they would propose examples really ludicrous, such asthese: three meeting-houses at two cents; four pianos at nine cents. ButI soon found that if I allowed this at all, their attention was divertedfrom the main object, and occupied in seeking the most diverting andcurious examples.

15. ARTIFICES IN RECITATIONS.--The teacher of a small newly-establishedschool had all of his scholars classed together in some of theirstudies. At recitations he usually sat in the middle of the room, whilethe scholars occupied the usual places at their desks, which werearranged around the sides. In the recitation in Rhetoric, the teacher,after a time, observed that one or two of the class seldom answeredappropriately the questions which came to them, but yet were alwaysready with some kind of answer--generally an exact quotation of thewords of the book. Upon noticing these individuals more particularly, hewas convinced that their books were open before them in some concealedsituation. Another practice not uncommon in the class was that of_prompting_ each other, either by whispers or writing. The teacher tookno notice publicly of these practices for some time, until, at the closeof an uncommonly good recitation, he remarked, "I think we have had afine recitation to-day. It is one of the most agreeable things that Iever do to hear a lesson that is learned as well as this. Do you thinkit would be possible for us to have as good an exercise every day?""Yes, sir," answered several, faintly. "Do you think it would bereasonable for me to expect of every member of the class that she shouldalways be able to recite all her lessons without ever missing a singlequestion?" "No, sir," answered all. "I do not expect it," said theteacher. "All I wish is that each of you should be faithful in yourefforts to prepare your lessons. I wish you to study from a sense ofduty, and for the sake of your own improvement. You know I do not punishyou for failures. I have no going up or down, no system of marking. Youronly reward, when you have made faithful preparation for a recitation,is the feeling of satisfaction which you will always experience; andwhen you have been negligent, your only punishment is a sort of uneasyfeeling of self-reproach. I do not expect you all to be invariablyprepared with every question of your lessons. Sometimes you will beunavoidably prevented from studying them, and at other times, when youhave studied them very carefully, you may have forgotten, or you mayfail from some misapprehension of the meaning in some cases. Do not, insuch a case, feel troubled because you may not have appeared as well assome individual who has not been half as faithful as yourself. If youhave done your duty, that is enough. On the other hand, you ought tofeel no better satisfied with yourselves when your lesson has not beenstudied well, because you may have happened to know the parts which cameto you. Have I _done_ well? should always be the question, not, Have Imanaged to _appear_ well?

"I will say a word here," continued the teacher, "upon a practice whichI have known to be very common in some schools, and which I have beensorry to notice occasionally in this. I mean that of prompting, orhelping each other along in some way at recitations. Now where a severepunishment is the consequence of a failure, there might seem to be somereasonableness in helping your companions out of difficulty, though eventhen such tricks are departures from honorable dealing. But, especiallywhere there is no purpose to be served but that of appearing to knowmore than you do, it certainly must be considered a very mean kind ofartifice. I think I have sometimes observed an individual to be promptedwhere evidently the assistance was not desired, and even where it wasnot needed. To whisper to an individual the answer to a question issometimes to pay her rather a poor compliment at least, for it is thesame as saying 'I am a better scholar than you are; let me help youalong a little.'

"Let us then, hereafter, have only fair, open, honest dealings with eachother; no attempts to appear to advantage by little artful manoeuvring;no prompting; no peeping into books. Be faithful and conscientious, andthen banish anxiety for your success. Do you not think you will findthis the best course?" "Yes, sir," answered every scholar. "Are youwilling to pledge yourselves to adopt it?" "Yes, sir." "Those who aremay raise their hands," said the teacher. Every hand was raised; and thepledge, there was evidence to believe, was honorably sustained.

16. KEEPING RESOLUTIONS.--The following are notes of a familiar lectureon this subject, given by a teacher at some general exercise in theschool. The practice of thus reducing to writing what the teacher maysay on such subjects will be attended with excellent effects.

This is a subject upon which young persons find much difficulty. Thequestion is asked a thousand times, "How shall I ever learn to keep myresolutions?" Perhaps the great cause of your failures is this. You arenot sufficiently _definite_ in forming your purposes. You will resolveto do a thing without knowing with certainty whether it is even possibleto do it. Again, you make resolutions which are to run on indefinitely,so that, of course, they can never be fully kept. For instance, one ofyou will resolve to _rise earlier in the morning._ You fix upon nodefinite hour, on any definite number of mornings, only you are goingto "_rise earlier_." Morning comes, and finds you sleepy and disinclinedto rise. You remember your resolution of rising earlier. "But then it is_very_ early," you say. You resolved to rise earlier, but you didn'tresolve to rise just then. And this, it may be, is the last of yourresolution. Or perhaps you are, for a few mornings, a little earlier;but then, at the end of a week or fortnight, you do not know exactlywhether your resolution has been broken or kept, for you had not decidedwhether to rise earlier for ten days or for ten years.

In the same vague and general manner, a person will resolve to be _morestudious_ or more diligent. In the case of an individual of a mature andwell-disciplined mind, of acquired firmness of character, such aresolution might have effect. The individual will really devote moretime and attention to his pursuits. But for one of you to make such aresolution would do no sort of good. It would only be a source oftrouble and disquiet. You perceive there is nothing definite--nothingfixed about it. You have not decided what amount of additional time orattention to give to your studies, or when you will begin, or when youwill end. There is no one time when you will feel that you are breakingyour resolution, because there were no particular times when you were tostudy more. You waste one opportunity and another, and then, with afeeling of discouragement and self-reproach, conclude to abandon yourresolution. "Oh! It does no good to make resolutions," you say; "I nevershall keep them."

Now, if you would have the business of making resolutions a pleasant andinteresting instead of a discouraging, disquieting one, you must proceedin a different manner. Be definite and distinct in your plan; decideexactly what you will do, and how you will do it--when you will begin,and when you will end. Instead of resolving to "rise earlier," resolveto rise at the ringing of the sunrise bells, or at some other definitetime. Resolve to try this, as an experiment, for one morning, or for oneweek, or fortnight. Decide positively, if you decide at all, and thenrise when the time comes, sleepy or not sleepy. Do not stop to repent ofyour resolution, or to consider the wisdom or folly of it, when the timefor acting under it has once arrived.

In all cases, little and great, make this a principle--to consider wellbefore you begin to act, but after you have begun to act, never stop toconsider. Resolve as deliberately as you please, but be sure to keepyour resolution, whether a wise one or an unwise one, after it is oncemade. Never allow yourself to reconsider the question of getting up,after the morning has come, except it be for some unforeseencircumstance. Get up for that time, and be more careful how you makeresolutions again.

17. TOPICS.--The plan of the Topic Exercise, as we called it, is this.Six or seven topics are given out, information upon which is to beobtained from any source, and communicated verbally before the wholeschool, or sometimes before a class formed for this purpose the nextday. The subjects are proposed both by teacher and scholars, and ifapproved, adopted. The exercise is intended to be voluntary, but oughtto be managed in a way sufficiently interesting to induce all to join.

At the commencement of the exercise the teacher calls upon all who haveany information in regard to the topic assigned--suppose, for example,it is _Alabaster_--to rise. Perhaps twenty individuals out of fortyrise. The teacher may perhaps say to those in their seats,

"Do you not know any thing of this subject? Have you neither seen norheard of alabaster, and had no means of ascertaining any thing in regardto it? If you have, you ought to rise. It is not necessary that youshould state a fact altogether new and unheard-of, but if you tell meits color, or some of the uses to which it is applied, you will becomplying with my request."

After these remarks, perhaps a few more rise, and possibly the wholeschool. Individuals are then called upon at random, each to state onlyone particular in regard to the topic in question. This arrangement ismade so as to give all an opportunity to speak. If any scholar, afterhaving mentioned one fact, has something still farther to communicate,she remains standing till called upon again. As soon as an individualhas exhausted her stock of information, or if the facts that sheintended to mention are stated by another, she takes her seat.

The topics at first most usually selected are the common objects bywhich we are surrounded--for example, glass, iron, mahogany, and thelike. The list will gradually extend itself, until it will embrace alarge number of subjects.

The object of this exercise is to induce pupils to seek for generalinformation in an easy and pleasant manner, as by the perusal of books,newspapers, periodicals, and conversation with friends. It induces careand attention in reading, and discrimination in selecting the mostuseful and important facts from the mass of information. As individualsare called upon, also, to express their ideas _verbally_, they soonacquire by practice the power of expressing them with clearness andforce, and communicating with ease and confidence the knowledge theypossess.

18. Music.--The girls of our school often amused themselves in recess bycollecting into little groups for singing. As there seemed to be asufficient power of voice, and a respectable number who were willing tojoin in the performance, it was proposed one day that singing should beintroduced as a part of the devotional exercises of the school.

The first attempt nearly resulted in a failure; only a few tremblingvoices succeeded in singing Old Hundred to the words "Be thou," etc. Onthe second day Peterborough was sung with much greater confidence on thepart of the increased number of singers. The experiment was tried withgreater and greater success for several days, when the teacher proposedthat a systematic plan should be formed, by which there might be singingregularly at the close of school. It was then proposed that a number ofsinging-books be obtained, and one of the scholars, who was wellacquainted with common tunes, be appointed as chorister. Her duty shouldbe to decide what particular tune may be sung each day, inform theteacher of the metre of the hymn, and take the lead in the exercise.This plan, being approved of by the scholars, was adopted, and put intoimmediate execution. Several brought copies of the Sabbath SchoolHymn-Book, which they had in their possession, and the plan succeededbeyond all expectation. The greatest difficulty in the way was to getsome one to lead. The chorister, however, was somewhat relieved from theembarrassment which she would naturally feel in making a beginning bythe appointment of one or two individuals with herself, who were to actas her assistants. These constituted the _leading_ committee, or, as itwas afterward termed, _Singing Committee_.

Singing now became a regular and interesting exercise of the school, andthe committee succeeded in managing the business themselves.

19. TABU.--An article was one day read in a school relating to the"Tabu" of the Sandwich Islanders. Tabu is a term with them whichsignifies consecrated--not to be touched--to be let alone--not to beviolated. Thus, according to their religious observances, a certain daywill be proclaimed _Tabu_; that is, one upon which there is to be nowork or no going out.

A few days after this article was read, the scholars observed onemorning a flower stuck up in a conspicuous place against the wall, withthe word TABU in large characters above it. This excited considerablecuriosity. The teacher informed them, in explanation, that the flowerwas a very rare and beautiful specimen, brought by one of the scholars,which he wished all to examine. "You would naturally feel a dispositionto examine it by the touch," said he, "but you will all see that, by thetime it was touched by sixty individuals, it would be likely to beinjured, if not destroyed. So I concluded to label it _Tabu_. And it hasoccurred to me that this will be a convenient mode of apprising yougenerally that any article must not be handled. You know we sometimeshave some apparatus exposed, which would be liable to injury fromdisturbance, where there are so many persons to touch it. I shall, insuch a case, just mention that an article is Tabu, and you willunderstand that it is not only not to be _injured_, but not even_touched_."

A little delicate management of this sort will often have more influenceover young persons than the most vehement scolding, or the most watchfuland jealous precautions. The Tabu was always most scrupulously regarded,after this, whenever employed.

20. MENTAL ANALYSIS.--Scene, a class in Arithmetic at recitation. Theteacher gives them an example in addition, requesting them, when theyhave performed it, to rise. Some finish it very soon, others are veryslow in accomplishing the work.

"I should like to ascertain," says the teacher, "how great is thedifference of rapidity with which different members of the class work inaddition. I will give you another example, and then notice by my watchthe shortest and longest time required to do it."

The result of the experiment was that some members of the class were twoor three times as long in doing it as others.

"Perhaps you think," said the teacher, "that this difference isaltogether owing to difference of skill; but it is not. It is mainlyowing to the different methods adopted by various individuals. I amgoing to describe some of these, and, as I describe them, I wish youwould notice them carefully, and tell me which you practice."

There are, then, three modes of adding up a column of figures, which Ishall describe.

1. I shall call the first _counting_. You take the first figure, andthen add the next to it by counting up regularly. There are threedistinct ways of doing this.

(a.) "Counting by your fingers." ("Yes, sir.") "You take the firstfigure--suppose it is seven--and the one above it, eight. Now yourecollect that to add eight, you must count all the fingers of onehand, and all but two again. So you say 'seven--eight, nine, ten,eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.'"

"Yes, sir, yes, sir," said the scholars.

(b.) The next mode of counting is to do it mentally, without using yourfingers at all; but, as it is necessary for you to have some plan tosecure your adding the right number, you divide the units into sets oftwo each. Thus you remember that eight consists of four twos, and youaccordingly say, when adding eight to seven, 'Seven; eight, nine; ten,eleven; twelve, thirteen,' &c.

(c.) "The third mode is to add by threes in the same way. You recollectthat eight consists of two threes and a two; so you say, 'Seven; eight,nine, ten; eleven, twelve, thirteen; fourteen, fifteen.'"

The teacher here stops to ascertain how many of the class are accustomedto add in either of these modes. It is a majority.

2. The next general method is _calculating_; that is, you do not uniteone number to another by the dull and tedious method of applying theunits, one by one, as in the ways described under the preceding head,but you come to a result more rapidly by some mode of calculating. Thesemodes are several.

(a.) "Doubling a number, and then adding or subtracting, as the case mayrequire. For instance, in the example already specified, in order to addseven and eight, you say, 'Twice seven are fourteen, and one arefifteen'" ("Yes, sir, yes, sir"); "or, 'Twice eight are sixteen, andtaking one off leaves fifteen." ("Yes, sir.")

(b.) Another way of calculating is to skip about the column, addingthose numbers which you can combine most easily, and then bringing inthe rest as you best can. Thus, if you see three eights in one column,you say, 'Three times eight are twenty-four,' and then you try to bringin the other numbers. Often, in such cases, you forget what you haveadded and what you have not, and get confused ("Yes, sir"), or you omitsomething in your work, and consequently it is incorrect.

(c.) If nines occur, you sometimes add ten, and then take off one, forit is very easy to add ten.

(d.) Another method of calculating, which is, however, not very common,is this: to take our old case, adding eight to seven, you take as muchfrom the eight to add to the seven as will be sufficient to make ten,and then it will be easy to add the rest. Thus you think in a minutethat three from the eight will make the seven a ten, and then there willbe five more to add, which will make fifteen. If the next number wasseven, you would say five of it will make twenty, and then there will betwo left, which will make twenty-two.' This mode, though it may seemmore intricate than any of the others, is, in fact, more rapid than anyof them, when one is a little accustomed to it.

"These are the four principal modes of calculating which occur to me.Pupils do not generally practice any of them exclusively, butoccasionally resort to each, according to the circumstances of theparticular case."

The teacher here stopped to inquire how many of the class wereaccustomed to add by calculating in either of these ways or in anysimpler ways.

3. "There is one more mode which I shall describe: it is by _memory_.Before I explain this mode, I wish to ask you some questions, which Ishould like to have you answer as quick as you can.

"How much is four times five? Four _and_ five?

"How much is seven times nine? Seven _and_ nine?

"Eight times six? Eight _and_ six?

"Nine times seven? Nine _and_ seven?"

After asking a few questions of this kind, it was perceived that thepupils could tell much more readily what was the result when thenumbers were to be multiplied than when they were to be added.

"The reason is," said the teacher, "because you committed themultiplication table to memory, and have not committed the additiontable. Now many persons have committed the addition table, so that it isperfectly familiar to them, and when they see any two numbers, theamount which is produced when they are added together comes to mind inan instant. Adding in this way is the last of the three modes I was todescribe.

"Now of these three methods the last is undoubtedly the best. If youonce commit the addition table thoroughly, you have it fixed for life;whereas if you do not, you have to make the calculation over again everytime, and thus lose a vast amount of labor. I have no doubt that thereare some in this class who are in the habit of _counting_, who haveascertained that seven and eight, for instance, make fifteen, bycounting up from seven to fifteen _hundreds of times_. Now how muchbetter it would be to spend a little time in fixing the fact in the mindonce for all, and then, when you come to the case, seven and eightare--say at once 'Fifteen,' instead of mumbling over and over again,hundreds of times, 'Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen,fourteen, fifteen.'

"The reason, then, that some of the class add so slowly, is not,probably, because they want skill and rapidity of execution, but becausethey work to a great disadvantage by working in the wrong way. I haveoften been surprised at the dexterity and speed with which some scholarscan count with their fingers when adding, and yet they could not getthrough the sum very quick--at least they would have done it in half thetime if the same effort had been made in traveling on a shorter road. Wewill therefore study the addition table now, in the class, before we goany farther."

21. TARDINESS.--When only a few scholars in a school are tardy, it maybe their fault; but if a great many are so, it is the fault of theteacher or of the school. If a school is prosperous, and the childrenare going on well and happily in their studies, they will like theirwork in it; but we all come reluctantly to work which we are consciouswe are not successfully performing.

There may be two boys in a school, both good boys; one, may be going onwell in his classes, while the other, from the concurrence of someaccidental train of circumstances, may be behindhand in his work, orwrongly classed, or so situated in other respects that his school dutiesperplex and harass him day by day. Now how different will be thefeelings of these two boys in respect to coming to school. The one willbe eager and prompt to reach his place and commence his duties, whilethe other will love much better to loiter in idleness and liberty in theopen air. Nor is he, under the circumstances of the case, to blame forthis preference. There is no one, old or young, who likes or can like todo what he himself and all around him think that he does not do well. Itis true the teacher can not rely wholly on the interest which hisscholars take in their studies to make them punctual at school; but ifhe finds among them any very general disposition to be tardy, he oughtto seek for the fault mainly in himself and not in them.

The foregoing narratives and examples, it is hoped, may induce some ofthe readers of this book to keep journals of their own experiments, andof the incidents which may, from time to time, come under their notice,illustrating the principles of education, or simply the characteristicsand tendencies of the youthful mind. The business of teaching willexcite interest and afford pleasure just in proportion to the degree inwhich it is conducted by operations of mind upon mind, and the means ofmaking it most fully so are careful practice, based upon and regulatedby the results of careful observation. Every teacher, then, should makeobservations and experiments upon mind a part of his daily duty, andnothing will more facilitate this than keeping a record of results.There can be no opportunity for studying human nature more favorablethan the teacher enjoys. The materials are all before him; his verybusiness, from day to day, brings him to act directly upon them; and thestudy of the powers and tendencies of the human mind is not only themost interesting and the noblest that can engage human attention, butevery step of progress he makes in it imparts an interest and charm towhat would otherwise be a weary toil. It at once relieves his labors,while it doubles their efficiency and success.

CHAPTER IX.

THE TEACHER'S FIRST DAY.

[Illustration]

The teacher enters upon the duties of his office by a much more suddentransition than is common in the other avocations and employments oflife. In ordinary cases, business comes at first by slow degrees, andthe beginner is introduced to the labors and responsibilities of hisemployment in a very gradual manner. The young teacher, however, entersby a single step into the very midst of his labors. Having, perhaps,never even heard a class recite before, he takes a short walk somewinter morning, and suddenly finds himself instated at the desk, hisfifty scholars around him, all looking him in the face, and waiting tobe employed. Every thing comes upon him at once. He can do nothing untilthe day and the hour for opening the school arrives--then he has everything to do.

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the young teachershould look forward with unusual solicitude to his first day in school,and he desires, ordinarily, special instructions in respect to thisoccasion. Some such special instructions we propose to give in thischapter. The experienced teacher may think some of them too minute andtrivial. But he must remember that they are intended for the youngestbeginner in the humblest school; and if he recalls to mind his ownfeverish solicitude on the morning when he went to take his firstcommand in the district school, he will pardon the seeming minuteness ofdetail.

1. It will be well for the young teacher to take opportunity, betweenthe time of his engaging his school and that of his commencing it, toacquire as much information in respect to it beforehand as possible, soas to be somewhat acquainted with the scene of his labors beforeentering upon it. Ascertain the names and the characters of theprincipal families in the district, their ideas and wishes in respect tothe government of the school, the kind of management adopted by one ortwo of the last teachers, the difficulties they fell into, the nature ofthe complaints made against them, if any, and the families with whomdifficulty has usually arisen. This information must, of course, beobtained in private conversation; a good deal of it must be, from itsvery nature, highly confidential; but it is very important that theteacher should be possessed of it. He will necessarily become possessedof it by degrees in the course of his administration, when, however, itmay be too late to be of any service to him. But, by judicious andproper efforts to acquire it beforehand, he will enter upon thedischarge of his duties with great advantage. It is like a navigator'sbecoming acquainted beforehand with the nature and the dangers of thesea over which he is about to sail.

Such inquiries as these will, in ordinary cases, bring to the teacher'sknowledge, in most districts in our country, some cases of peculiarlytroublesome scholars, or unreasonable and complaining parents; andstories of their unjustifiable conduct on former occasions will come tohim exaggerated by the jealousy of rival neighbors. There is danger thathis resentment may be roused a little, and that his mind will assume ahostile attitude at once toward such individuals, so that he will enterupon his work rather with a desire to seek a collision with them, or, atleast, with secret feelings of defiance toward them--feelings which willlead to that kind of unbending perpendicularity in his demeanor towardthem which will almost inevitably lead to a collision. Now this iswrong. There is, indeed, a point where firm resistance to unreasonabledemands becomes a duty; but, as a general principle, it is mostunquestionably true that it is the teacher's duty _to accommodatehimself to the character and expectations of his employers_, not to faceand brave them. Those italicized words _may be_ understood to meansomething which would be entirely wrong; but in the sense in which Imean to use them there can be no question that they indicate the properpath for one employed by others to do work _for them_ in all cases topursue. If, therefore, the teacher finds by his inquiries into the stateof his district that there are some peculiar difficulties and dangersthere, let him not cherish a disposition to face and resist them, but toavoid them. Let him go with an intention to soothe rather than toirritate feelings which have been wounded before, to comply with thewishes of all so far as he can, even if they are not entirelyreasonable, and, while he endeavors to elevate the standard and correctthe opinions prevailing among his employers by any means in his power,to aim at doing it gently, and in a tone and manner suitable to therelation he sustains--in a word, let him skillfully _avoid_ the dangersof his navigation, not obstinately run his ship against a rock onpurpose on the ground that the rock has no business to be there.

This is the spirit, then, with which these preliminary inquiries inregard to the patrons of the school ought to be made. We come now to asecond point.

2. It will assist the young teacher very much in his first day's laborsif he takes measures for seeing and conversing with some of the older ormore intelligent scholars on the day or evening before he begins hisschool, with a view of obtaining from them some acquaintance with theinternal arrangements and customs of the school. The object of this isto obtain the same kind of information with respect to the interior ofthe school that was recommended in respect to the district under theformer head. He may call upon a few families, especially those whichfurnish a large number of scholars for the school, and make as manyminute inquiries of them as he can respecting all the interiorarrangements to which they have been accustomed, what reading-books andother text-books have been used, what are the principal classes in allthe several departments of instruction, and what is the system ofdiscipline, and of rewards and punishments, to which the school has beenaccustomed.

If, in such conversations, the teacher should find a few intelligent andcommunicative scholars, he might learn a great deal about the pasthabits and condition of the school, which would be of great service tohim. Not, by any means, that he will adopt and continue these methods asa matter of course, but only that a knowledge of them will render himvery important aid in marking out his own course. The more minute andfull the information of this sort is which he thus obtains, the better.If practicable, it would be well to make out a catalogue of all theprincipal classes, with the names of those individuals belonging to themwho will probably attend the new school, and the order in which theywere usually called upon to read or recite. The conversation which wouldbe necessary to accomplish this would of itself be of great service. Itwould bring the teacher into an acquaintance with several importantfamilies and groups of children under the most favorable circumstances.The parents would see and be pleased with the kind of interest theywould see the teacher taking in his new duties. The children would bepleased to be able to render their new instructor some service, andwould go to the school-room on the next morning with a feeling ofacquaintance with him, and a predisposition to be pleased. And if bychance any family should be thus called upon that had heretofore beencaptious or complaining, or disposed to be jealous of the higherimportance or influence of other families, that spirit would be entirelysoftened and subdued by such an interview with their new instructor attheir own fireside on the evening preceding the commencement of hislabors. The great object, however, which the teacher would have in viewin such inquiries should be the value of the information itself. As tothe use which he will make of it, we shall speak hereafter.

3. It is desirable that the young teacher should meet his scholars firstin an unofficial capacity. For this purpose, repair to the school-roomon the first day at an early hour, so as to see and become acquaintedwith the scholars as they come in one by one. The intercourse betweenteacher and pupil should be like that between parents and children,where the utmost freedom is united with the most perfect respect. Thefather who is most firm and decisive in his family government can minglemost freely in the conversation and sports of his children without anyderogation of his authority, or diminution of the respect they owe.Young teachers, however, are prone to forget this, and to imagine thatthey must assume an appearance of stern authority always, when in thepresence of their scholars, if they wish to be respected or obeyed. Thisthey call keeping up their dignity. Accordingly, they wait, on themorning of their induction into office, until their new subjects are allassembled, and then walk in with an air of the highest dignity, and withthe step of a king; and sometimes a formidable instrument of disciplineis carried in the hand to heighten the impression. Now there is noquestion that it is of great importance that scholars should have a highidea of the teacher's firmness and inflexible decision in maintaininghis authority and repressing all disorder of every kind, but thisimpression should be created by their seeing how he _acts_ in thevarious emergencies which will spontaneously occur, and not by assumingairs of importance or dignity, feigned for effect. In other words, theirrespect for him should be based on _real traits_ of character as theysee them brought out into natural action, and not on appearances assumedfor the occasion.

It seems to me, therefore, that it is best for the teacher first to meethis scholars with the air and tone of free and familiar intercourse, andhe will find his opportunity more favorable for doing this if he goesearly on the first morning of his labors, and converses freely withthose whom he finds there, and with others as they come in. He may takean interest with them in all the little arrangements connected with theopening of the school--the building of the fire, the paths through thesnow, the arrangements of seats; calling upon them for information oraid, asking their names, and, in a word, entering fully and freely intoconversation with them, just as a parent, under similar circumstances,would do with his children. All the children thus addressed will bepleased with the gentleness and affability of the teacher. Even a roughand ill-natured boy, who has perhaps come to the school with the expressdetermination of attempting to make mischief, will be completelydisarmed by being asked politely to help the teacher arrange the fire,or alter the position of his desk. Thus, by means of the half hourduring which the scholars are coming together, and of the visits made inthe preceding evening, as described under the last head, the teacherwill find, when he calls upon the children to take their seats, that hehas made a very large number of them his personal friends. Many of thesewill have communicated their first impressions to the others, so that hewill find himself possessed, at the outset, of that which is of vitalconsequence in the opening of any administration--a strong party in hisfavor.

4. The time for calling the school to order and commencing exercises ofsome sort will at length arrive, though if the work of making personalacquaintances is going on prosperously, it may perhaps be delayed alittle beyond the usual hour. When, however, the time arrives, we wouldstrongly recommend that the first service by which the regular duties ofthe school are commenced should be an act of religious worship. Thereare many reasons why the exercises of the school should every day bethus commenced, and there are special reasons for it on the first day.

There are very few districts where parents would have any objection tothis. They might, indeed, in some cases, if the subject were to bebrought up formally before them as a matter of doubt, anticipate somedifficulties, or create imaginary ones, growing out of the supposedsensitiveness of contending sects; but if the teacher were, of his ownaccord, to commence the plain, faithful, and honest discharge of thisduty as a matter of course, very few would think of making any objectionto it, and almost all would be satisfied and pleased with its actualoperation. If, however, the teacher should, in any case, have reason tobelieve that such a practice would be contrary to the wishes of hisemployers, it would, according to views we have presented in anotherchapter, be wrong for him to attempt to introduce it. He might, if heshould see fit, make such an objection a reason for declining to takethe school; but he ought not, if he takes it, to act counter to theknown wishes of his employers in so important a point. But if, on theother hand, no such objections are made known to him, he need not raisethe question himself at all, but take it for granted that in a Christianland there will be no objection to imploring the Divine protection andblessing at the opening of a daily school.

If this practice is adopted, it will have a most powerful influence uponthe moral condition of the school. It must be so. Though many will beinattentive, and many utterly unconcerned, yet it is not possible tobring children, even in form, into the presence of God every day, andto utter in their hearing the petitions which they ought to present,without bringing a powerful element of moral influence to bear upontheir hearts. The good will be made better; the conscientious moreconscientious still; and the rude and savage will be subdued andsoftened by the daily attempt to lead them to the throne of theirCreator. To secure this effect, the devotional service must be an honestone. There must be nothing feigned or hypocritical; no hackneyed phrasesused without meaning, or intonations of assumed solemnity. It must behonest, heartfelt, simple prayer; the plain and direct expression ofsuch sentiments as children ought to feel, and of such petitions as theyought to offer. We shall speak presently of the mode of avoiding someabuses to which this exercise is liable; but if these sources of abuseare avoided, and the duty is performed in that plain, simple, direct,and honest manner in which it certainly will be if it springs from theheart, it must have a great influence on the moral progress of thechildren, and, in fact, in all respects on the prosperity of the school.

But, then, independently of the _advantages_ which may be expected toresult from the practice of daily prayer in school, it would seem to bethe imperious _duty_ of the teacher to adopt it. So many human mindscommitted thus to the guidance of one, at a period when the characterreceives so easily and so permanently its shape and direction, and in aworld of probation like this, is an occasion which seems to demand theopen recognition of the hand of God on the part of any individual towhom such a trust is committed. The duty springs so directly out of theattitude in which the teacher and pupil stand in respect to each other,and the relation they together bear to the Supreme, that it would seemimpossible for any one to hesitate to admit the duty, without denyingaltogether the existence of a God.

How vast the responsibility _of giving form and character to the humansoul!_ How mighty the influence of which the unformed minds of a groupof children are susceptible! How much their daily teacher mustinevitably exert upon them! If we admit the existence of God at all, andthat he exerts any agency whatever in the moral world which he hasproduced, here seems to be one of the strongest cases in which hisintervention should be sought. And then, when we reflect upon theinfluence which would be exerted upon the future religious character ofthis nation by having the millions of children training up in theschools accustomed, through all the years of early life, to beingbrought daily into the presence of the Supreme, with thanksgiving,confession, and prayer, it can hardly seem possible that the teacher whowishes to be faithful in his duties should hesitate in regard to this.Some teacher may perhaps say that he can not perform it because he isnot a religious man--he makes no pretensions to piety. But this cansurely be no reason. He _ought to be_ a religious man, and his firstprayer offered in school may be the first act by which he becomes so.Entering the service of Jehovah is a work which requires no preliminarysteps. It is to be done at once by sincere confession, and an honestprayer for forgiveness for the past, and strength for time to come. Adaily religious service in school may be, therefore, the outward act bywhich he, who has long lived without God, may return to his duty.

If, from such considerations, the teacher purposes to have a dailyreligious service in his school, he should by all means begin on thefirst day, and when he first calls his school to order. He shouldmention to his pupils the great and obvious duty of imploring God'sguidance and blessing in all their ways, and then read a short portionof Scripture, with an occasional word or two of simple explanation, andoffer, himself, a short and simple prayer. In some cases, teachers aredisposed to postpone this duty a day or two, from timidity or othercauses, hoping that, after becoming acquainted a little with theschool, and having completed their more important arrangements, theyshall find it easier to begin. But this is a great mistake. The longerthe duty is postponed, the more difficult and trying it will be. Andthen the moral impressions will be altogether more strong and salutaryif an act of solemn religious worship is made the first opening act ofthe school.

Where the teacher has not sufficient confidence that the general senseof propriety among his pupils will preserve good order and decorumduring the exercise, it may be better for him to _read_ a prayerselected from books of devotion, or prepared by himself expressly forthe occasion. By this plan his school will be, during the exercise,under his own observation, as at other times. It may, in some schoolswhere the number is small, or the prevailing habits of seriousness andorder are good, be well to allow the older scholars to read the prayerin rotation, taking especial care that it does not degenerate into amere reading exercise, but that it is understood, both by readers andhearers, to be a solemn act of religious worship. In a word, if theteacher is really honest and sincere in his wish to lead his pupils tothe worship of God, he will find no serious difficulty in preventing theabuses and avoiding the dangers which some might fear, and inaccomplishing vast good, both in promoting the prosperity of the school,and in the formation of the highest and best traits of individualcharacter.

We have dwelt, perhaps, longer on this subject than we ought to havedone in this place; but its importance, when viewed in its bearings onthe thousands of children daily assembling in our district schools mustbe our apology. The embarrassments and difficulties arising from theextreme sensitiveness which exists among the various denominations ofChristians in our land, threaten to interfere very seriously with givinga proper degree of religious instruction to the mass of the youthfulpopulation. But we must not, because we have no national _church_,cease to have a national _religion_. All our institutions ought to be soadministered as openly to recognize the hand of God, and to seek hisprotection and blessing; and in regard to none is it more imperiouslynecessary than in respect to our common schools.

5. After the school is thus opened, the teacher will find himselfbrought to the great difficulty which embarrasses the beginning of hislabors, namely, that of finding immediate employment at once for thethirty or forty children who all look up to him waiting for theirorders. I say thirty or forty, for the young teachers first school willusually be a small one. His object should be, in all ordinary cases, forthe first few days, twofold: first, to revive and restore, in the main,the general routine of classes and exercises pursued by his predecessorin the same school; and, secondly, while doing this, to become as fullyacquainted with his scholars as possible.

It is best, then, _ordinarily_, for the teacher to begin the school ashis predecessor closed it, and make the transition to his own perhapsmore improved method a gradual one. In some cases a different course iswise undoubtedly, as, for example, where a teacher is commencing aprivate school, on a previously well-digested plan of his own, or whereone who has had experience, and has confidence in his power to bring hisnew pupils promptly and at once into the system of classification andinstruction which he prefers. It is difficult, however, to do this, andrequires a good deal of address and decision. It is far easier andsafer, and in almost all cases better, in every respect, for a youngteacher to revive and restore the former arrangements in the main, andtake his departure from them. He may afterward make changes, as he mayfind them necessary or desirable, and even bring the school soon into avery different state from that in which he finds it; but it willgenerally be more pleasant for himself, and better for the school, toavoid the shock of a sudden and entire revolution.

The first thing, then, when the scholars are ready to be employed, isto set them at work in classes or upon lessons, as they would have beenemployed had the former teacher continued in charge of the school. Toillustrate clearly how this may be done, we may give the followingdialogue:

_Teacher_. Can any one of the boys inform me what was the first lessonthat the former master used to hear in the morning?

The boys are silent, looking to one another.

_Teacher_. Did he hear _any_ recitation immediately after school began?

_Boys_ (faintly, and with hesitation). No, sir.

_Teacher_. How long was it before he began to hear lessons?

Several boys simultaneously. "About half an hour." "A little while.""Quarter of an hour."

"What did he do at this time?"

"Set copies," "Looked over sums," and various other answers are perhapsgiven.

The teacher makes a memorandum of this, and then inquires,

"And what lesson came after this?"

"Geography."

"All the boys in this school who studied Geography may rise."

A considerable number rise.

"Did you all recite together?"

"No, sir."

"There are two classes, then?"

"Yes. sir." "Yes, sir." "More than two."

"All who belong to the class that recites first in the morning mayremain standing; the rest may sit."

The boys obey, and eight or ten of them remain standing. The teachercalls upon one of them to produce his book, and assigns them a lesson inregular course. He then requests some one of the number to write out, inthe course of the day, a list of the class, and to bring it with him tothe recitation the next morning.

"Are there any other scholars in the school who think it would be wellfor them to join this class?"

In answer to this question probably some new scholars might rise, orsome hitherto belonging to other classes, who might be of suitable ageand qualifications to be transferred. If these individuals should appearto be of the proper standing and character, they might at once be joinedto the class in question, and directed to take the same lesson.

In the same manner, the other classes would pass in review before theteacher, and he would obtain a memorandum of the usual order ofexercises, and in a short time set all his pupils at work preparing forthe lessons of the next day. He would be much aided in this by theprevious knowledge which he would have obtained by private conversation,as recommended under a former head. Some individual cases would requirea little special attention, such as new scholars, small children, andothers; but he would be able, before a great while, to look around himand see his whole school busy with the work he had assigned them, andhis own time, for the rest of the morning, in a great degree at his owncommand.

I ought to say, however, that it is not probable that he would longcontinue these arrangements unaltered. In hearing the different classesrecite, he would watch for opportunities for combining them, ordiscontinuing those where the number was small; he would alter the timesof recitation, and group individual scholars into classes, so as tobring the school, in a very short time, into a condition correspondingmore nearly with his own views. All this can be done very easily andpleasantly when the wheels are once in motion; for a school is like aship in one respect--most easily steered in the right direction whenunder sail.

By this plan, also, the teacher obtains what is almost absolutelynecessary at the commencement of his labors, time for _observation_. Itis of the first importance that he should become acquainted, as early aspossible, with the characters of the boys, especially to learn who thoseare which are most likely to be troublesome. There always will be a fewwho will require special watch and care, and generally there will beonly a few. A great deal depends on finding these individuals out ingood season, and bringing the pressure of a proper authority to bearupon them soon. By the plan I have recommended of not attempting toremodel the school wholly at once, the teacher obtains time for noticingthe pupils, and learning something about their individual characters. Infact, so important is this, that it is the plan of some teachers,whenever they commence a new school, to let the boys have their own way,almost entirely, for a few days, in order to find out fully who the idleand mischievous are. This is, perhaps, going a little too far; but it iscertainly desirable to enjoy as many opportunities for observation ascan be secured on the first few days of the school.

6. Make it, then, a special object of attention, during the first day ortwo, to discover who the idle and mischievous individuals are. They willhave generally seated themselves together in little knots; for, as theyare aware that the new teacher does not know them, they will imaginethat, though perhaps separated before, they can now slip together againwithout any trouble. It is best to avoid, if possible, an open collisionwith any of them at once, in order that they may be the better observed.Whenever, therefore, you see idleness or play, endeavor to remedy theevil for the time by giving the individual something special to do, orby some other measure, without, however, seeming to notice themisconduct. Continue thus adroitly to stop every thing disorderly,while, at the same time, you notice and remember where the tendencies todisorder exist.

By this means, the individuals who would cause most of the trouble anddifficulty in the discipline of the school will soon betray themselves,and those whose fidelity and good behavior can be relied upon will alsobe known. The names of the former should be among the first that theteacher learns, and their characters should be among the first which hestudies. The most prominent among them--those apparently most likely tomake trouble--he should note particularly, and make inquiries out ofschool respecting them, their characters, and their education at home,so as to become acquainted with them as early and as fully as possible,for he must have this full acquaintance with them before he is preparedto commence any decided course of discipline with them. The teacheroften does irreparable injury by rash action at the outset. He sees, forinstance, a boy secretly eating an apple which he has concealed in hishand, and which he bites with his book before his mouth, or his headunder the lid of his desk. It is perhaps the first day of the school,and the teacher thinks he had better make an example at the outset, andcalls the boy out, knowing nothing about his general character, andinflicts some painful or degrading punishment before all the school. Alittle afterward, as he becomes gradually acquainted with the boy, hefinds that he is of mild, gentle disposition, generally obedient andharmless, and that his offense was only an act of momentarythoughtlessness, arising from some circumstances of peculiar temptationat the time; a boy in the next seat, perhaps, had just before given himthe apple. The teacher regrets, when too late, the hasty punishment. Heperceives that instead of having the influence of salutary example uponthe other boys, it must have shocked their sense of justice, and exciteddislike toward a teacher so quick and severe, rather than of fear ofdoing wrong themselves. It would be safer to postpone such decidedmeasures a little--to avoid all open collisions, if possible, for a fewdays. In such a case as the above, the boy might be kindly spoken to inan under tone, in such a way as to show both the teacher's sense of theimpropriety of disorder, and also his desire to avoid giving pain tothe boy. If it then turns out that the individual is ordinarily awell-disposed boy, all is right, and if he proves to be habituallydisobedient and troublesome, the lenity and forbearance exercised atfirst will facilitate the effect aimed at by subsequent measures. Avoid,then, for the few first days, all open collision with any of yourpupils, that you may have opportunity for minute and thoroughobservation.

And here the young teacher ought to be cautioned against a fault whichbeginners are very prone to fall into, that of forming unfavorableopinions of some of their pupils from their air and manner before theysee any thing in their conduct which ought to be disapproved. A boy orgirl comes to the desk to ask a question or make a request, and theteacher sees in the cast of countenance, or in the bearing or tone ofthe individual, something indicating a proud, or a sullen, or anill-humored disposition, and conceives a prejudice, often entirelywithout foundation, which weeks perhaps do not wear away. Everyexperienced teacher can recollect numerous cases of this sort, and helearns, after a time, to suspend his judgment. Be cautious, therefore,on this point, and in the survey of your pupils which you make duringthe first few days of your school, trust to nothing but the most sureand unequivocal evidences of character, for many of your most docile andfaithful pupils will be found among those whose appearance at firstprepossessed you strongly against them.

One other caution ought also to be given. Do not judge too severely inrespect to the ordinary cases of misconduct in school. The young teacheralmost invariably does judge too severely. While engaged himself inhearing a recitation, or looking over a "sum," he hears a stifled laugh,and, looking up, sees the little offender struggling with the muscles ofhis countenance to restore their gravity. The teacher is vexed at theinterruption, and severely rebukes or punishes the boy, when, afterall, the offense, in a moral point of view, was an exceedingly lightone--at least it might very probably have been so. In fact, a largeproportion of the offenses against order committed in school are themere momentary action of the natural buoyancy and life of childhood.This is no reason why they should be indulged, or why the order andregularity of the school should be sacrificed, but it should preventtheir exciting feelings of anger or impatience, or very severereprehension. While the teacher should take effectual measures forrestraining all such irregularities, he should do it with the tone andmanner which will show that he understands their true moral character,and deals with them, not as heinous sins, which deserve severepunishment, but as serious inconveniences, which he is compelled torepress.

There are often cases of real moral turpitude in school, such as wherethere is intentional, willful mischief, or disturbance, or habitualdisobedience, and there may even be, in some cases, open rebellion. Nowthe teacher should show that he distinguishes these cases from suchmomentary acts of thoughtlessness as we have described, and a broaddistinction ought to be made in the treatment of them. In a word, then,what we have been recommending under this head is, that the teachershould make it his special study, for his first few days in school, toacquire a knowledge of the characters of his pupils, to learn who arethe thoughtless ones, who the mischievous, and who the disobedient andrebellious, and to do this with candid, moral discrimination, and withas little open collision with individuals as possible.

7. Another point to which the teacher ought to give his early attentionis to separate the bad boys as soon as he can from one another. Theidleness and irregularity of children in school often depends more onaccidental circumstances than on character. Two boys may be individuallyharmless and well-disposed, and yet they may be of so mercurial atemperament that, together, the temptation to continual play will beirresistible. Another case that more often happens is where one isactively and even intentionally bad, and is seated next to an innocent,but perhaps thoughtless boy, and contrives to keep him always indifficulty. Now remove the former away, where there are no very frailmaterials for him to act upon, and place the latter where he is exposedto no special temptation, and all would be well.

This is all very obvious, and known familiarly to all teachers who havehad any experience. But beginners are not generally so aware of it atthe outset as to make any direct and systematic efforts to examine theschool with reference to its condition in this respect. It is usual togo on, leaving the boys to remain seated as chance or their owninclinations grouped them, and to endeavor to keep the peace among thevarious neighborhoods by close supervision, rebukes, and punishment. Nowthese difficulties may be very much diminished by looking a little intothe arrangement of the boys at the outset, and so modifying it as todiminish the amount of temptation to which the individuals are exposed.

This should be done, however, cautiously, deliberately, and withgood-nature, keeping the object of it a good deal out of view. It mustbe done cautiously and deliberately, for the first appearances areexceedingly fallacious in respect to the characters of the differentchildren. You see, perhaps, some indications of play between two boysupon the same seat, and hastily conclude that they are disorderly boys,and must be separated. Something in the air and manner of one or both ofthem confirms this impression, and you take the necessary measures atonce. You then find, when you become more fully acquainted with them,that the appearances which you observed were only momentary andaccidental, and that they would have been as safe together as any twoboys in the school. And perhaps you will even find that, by their newposition, you have brought one or the other into circumstances ofpeculiar temptation. Wait, therefore, before you make such changes,till you have ascertained _actual character_, doing this, however,without any unnecessary delay.

In such removals, too, it is well, in many cases, to keep the motive anddesign of them as much as possible out of view; for by expressingsuspicion of a boy, you injure his character in his own opinion and inthat of others, and tend to make him reckless. Besides, if you remove aboy from a companion whom he likes, avowedly to prevent his playing, youoffer him an inducement, if he is a bad boy, to continue to play in hisnew position for the purpose of thwarting you, or from the influence ofresentment. It would be wrong, indeed, to use any subterfuge orduplicity of any kind to conceal your object, but you are not bound toexplain it; and in the many changes which you will be compelled to makein the course of the first week for various purposes, you may includemany of these without explaining particularly the design or intention ofany of them.

In some instances, however, you may frankly state the whole case withoutdanger, provided it is done in such a manner as not to make the boy feelthat his character is seriously injured in your estimation. It mustdepend upon the tact and judgment of the teacher to determine upon theparticular course to be pursued in the several cases, though he ought tokeep these general principles in view in all.

In one instance, for example, he will see two boys together, James andJoseph we will call them, exhibiting a tendency to play, and afterinquiring into their characters, he will find that they aregood-natured, pleasant boys, and that he had better be frank with themon the subject. He calls one of them to his desk, and perhaps thefollowing dialogue ensues:

"James, I am making some changes in the seats, and thought of removingyou to another place. Have you any particular preference for that seat?"

The question is unexpected, and James hesitates. He wishes to sit nextto Joseph, but doubts whether it is quite prudent to avow it; so hesays, slowly and with hesitation,

"No, sir, I do not know that I have."

"If you have any reason, I wish you would tell me frankly, for I wantyou to have such a seat as will be pleasant to you."

James does not know what to say. Encouraged, however, by thegood-humored tone and look which the master assumes, he says, timidly,

"Joseph and I thought we should like to sit together, if you arewilling."

"Oh! you and Joseph are particular friends, then, I suppose?"

"Why, yes, sir."

"I am not surprised, then, that you want to sit together, though, totell the truth, that is rather a reason why I should separate you."

"Why, sir?"

"Because I have observed that when two great friends are seatedtogether, they are always more apt to whisper and play. Have you notobserved it?"

"Why, yes, sir."

"You may go and ask Joseph to come here."

When the two boys make their appearance again, the teacher continues:

"Joseph, James tells me that you and he would like to sit together, andsays you are particular friends; but I tell him," he adds, smiling,"that that is rather a reason for separating you. Now if I should putyou both into different parts of the school, next to boys that you arenot acquainted with, it would be a great deal easier for you to be stilland studious than it is now. Do you not think so yourselves?"

The boys look at one another and smile.

"However, there is one way you can do. You can guard against the extratemptation by extra care; and, on the whole, as I believe you are prettygood boys, I will let you have your choice. You may stay as you are,and make extra exertion to be perfectly regular and studious, or I willfind seats for you where it will be a great deal easier for you to beso. Which do you think you should rather do?"

The boys hesitate, look at one another, and presently say that they hadrather sit together.

"Well," said the teacher, "it is immaterial to me whether you sittogether or apart, if you are only good boys, so you may take your seatsand try it a little while. If you find it too hard work to be studiousand orderly together, I can make a change hereafter. I shall soon see."

Such a conversation will have many good effects. It will make the boysexpect to be watched, without causing them to feel that their charactershave suffered. It will stimulate them to greater exertion to avoid allmisconduct, and it will prepare the way for separating them afterwardwithout awakening feelings of resentment, if the experiment of theirsitting together should fail.

Another case would be managed, perhaps, in a little different way, wherethe tendency to play was more decided. After speaking to the individualsmildly two or three times, you see them again at play. You ask them towait that day after school and come to your desk.

They have, then, the rest of the day to think occasionally of thedifficulty they have brought themselves into, and the anxiety andsuspense which they will naturally feel will give you every advantagefor speaking to them with effect; and if you should be engaged a fewminutes with some other business after school, so that they should haveto stand a little while in silent expectation, waiting for their turn,it would contribute to the permanence of the effect.

"Well, boys," at length you say, with a serious but frank tone of voice,"I saw you playing in a disorderly manner to-day, and, in the firstplace, I wish you to tell me honestly all about it. I am not going topunish you, but I wish you to be open and honest about it. What were youdoing?"

The boys hesitate.

"George, what did you have in your hand?"

"A piece of paper."

"And what were you doing with it?"

_George_. William was trying to take it away from me.

"Was there any thing on it?"

"Yes, sir."

"What?"

George looks down, a little confused.

_William_. George had been drawing some pictures on it.

"I see each of you is ready to tell of the other's fault, but it wouldbe much more honorable if each was open in acknowledging his own. Have Iever had to speak to you before for playing together in school?"

"Yes, sir, I believe you have," says one, looking down.

"More than once?"

"Yes, sir."

"More than twice?"

"I do not recollect exactly; I believe you have."

"Well, now, what do you think I ought to do next?"

The boys have nothing to say.

"Do you prefer sitting together, or are you willing to have me separateyou?"

"We should rather sit together, sir, if you are willing," says George.

"I have no objection to your sitting together, if you could only resistthe temptation to play. I want all the boys in the school to havepleasant seats."

There is a pause, the teacher hesitating what to do.

"Suppose, now, I were to make one more experiment, and let you try to begood boys in your present seat, would you really try?"

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir, we will," are the replies.

"And if I should find that you still continue to play, and should haveto separate you, will you move into your new seats pleasantly, and withgood-humor, feeling that I have done right about if?"

"Yes, sir, we will."

Thus it will be seen that there may be cases where the teacher may makearrangements for separating his scholars, on an open and distinctunderstanding with them in respect to the cause of it. We have giventhese cases, not that exactly such ones will be very likely to occur, orthat, when they do, the teacher is to manage them in exactly the wayhere described, but to exhibit more clearly to the reader than could bedone by any general description, the spirit and tone which a teacherought to assume toward his pupils. We wished to exhibit this in contrastwith the harsh and impatient manner which teachers too often assume insuch a case, as follows:

"John Williams and Samuel Smith, come here to me!" exclaims the master,in a harsh, impatient tone, in the midst of the exercises of theafternoon.

The scholars all look up from their work. The culprits slowly rise fromtheir seats, and with a sullen air come down to the floor.

"You are playing, boys, all the time, and I will not have it. John, doyou take your books, and go and sit out there by the window; and,Samuel, you come and sit here on this front seat; and if I catch youplaying again, I shall certainly punish you severely."

The boys make the move with as much rattling and distention to make anoise; and when they get their new seats, and the teacher is againengaged upon his work, they exchange winks and nods, and in ten minutesare slyly cannonading each other with paper balls.

In regard to all the directions that have been given under this head, Iought to say again, before concluding it, that they are mainlyapplicable to the case of beginners and of small schools. The generalprinciples are, it is true, of universal application, but it is onlywhere a school is of moderate size that the details of position, inrespect to individual scholars, can be minutely studied. More summaryprocesses are necessary, I am aware, when the school is very large, andthe time of the teacher is incessantly engaged.

8. In some districts in New England the young teacher will find one ormore boys, generally among the larger ones, who will come to the schoolwith the express determination to make a difficulty if they can. Thebest way is generally to face these individuals at once in the mostdirect and open manner, and, at the same time, with perfect good-humorand kindness of feeling and deportment toward them personally. Anexample or two will best illustrate what I mean.

A teacher heard a rapping noise repeatedly one day, just after he hadcommenced his labors, under such circumstances as to lead him to supposeit was designed. He did not appear to notice it, but remained afterschool until the scholars had all gone, and then made a thoroughexamination. He found, at length, a broken place in the plastering,where a _lath_ was loose, and a string was tied to the end of it, andthence carried along the wall, under the benches, to the seat of amischievous boy, and fastened to a nail. By pulling the string he couldspring the lath, and then let it snap back to its place. He left everything as it was, and the next day, while engaged in a lesson, he heardthe noise again.

He rose from his seat.

The scholars all looked up from their books.

"Did you hear that noise?" said he.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, sir."

"Very well; I only wished to call your attention to it. I may perhapsspeak of it again by-and-by."

He then resumed his exercise as if nothing had happened. The guilty boywas agitated and confused, and was utterly at a loss to know what to do.What could the teacher mean? Had he discovered the trick? and, if so,what was he going to do?

He grew more and more uneasy, and resolved that, at all events, it wasbest for him to retreat. Accordingly, at the next recess, as the teacherhad anticipated, he went slyly to the lath, cut the string, thenreturned to his seat, and drew the line in, rolled it up, and put it inhis pocket. The teacher, who was secretly watching him, observed thewhole manoeuvre.

At the close of the school, when the books were laid aside, and all wassilence, he treated the affair thus:

"Do you remember the noise to which I called your attention early thisafternoon"?"

"Yes, sir."

"I will explain it to you now. One of the boys tied a string to a looselath in the side of the room, and then, having the end of it at hisseat, he was pulling it to make a noise to disturb us."

The scholars all looked astonished, and then began to turn round towardone another to see who the offender could be. The culprit began totremble.

"He did it several times yesterday, and would have gone on doing it hadI not spoken about it to-day. Do you think this was wrong or not?"

"Yes, sir;" "Wrong;" "Wrong," are the replies.

"What harm does it do?"

"It interrupts the school."

"Yes. Is there any other harm?"

The boys hesitate.

"It gives me trouble and pain. Should you not suppose it would?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have I ever treated any boy or girl in this school unjustly orunkindly?"

"No, sir;" "No, sir."

"Then why should any boy or girl wish to give me trouble or pain?"

There was a pause. The guilty individual expected that the next thingwould be to call him out for punishment.

"Now what do you think I ought to do with such a boy?"

No answer.

"Perhaps I ought to punish him, but I am very unwilling to do that. Iconcluded to try another plan--to treat him with kindness andforbearance. So I called your attention to it this afternoon, to let himknow that I was observing it, and to give him an opportunity to removethe string. And he did. He went, in the recess, and cut off the string.I shall not tell you his name, for I do not wish to injure hischaracter. All I want is to have him a good boy."

A pause.

"I think I shall try this plan, for he must have some feelings of honorand gratitude, and if he has, he certainly will not try to give me painor trouble again after this. And now I shall say no more about it, northink any more about it; only, to prove that it is all as I say, if youlook there under that window after school, you will see the lath withthe end of the string round it, and, by pulling it, you can make itsnap."

Another case, a little more serious in its character, is the following:

A teacher, having had some trouble with a rude and savage-looking boy,made some inquiry respecting him out of school, and incidentally learnedthat he had once or twice before openly rebelled against the authorityof the school, and that he was now, in the recesses, actually preparinga club, with which he was threatening to defend himself if the teachershould attempt to punish him.

The next day, soon after the boys had gone out, he took his hat andfollowed them, and, turning round a corner of the school-house, foundthe boys standing around the young rebel, who was sitting upon a log,shaving the handle of the club smooth with his pocket-knife. He wasstartled at the unexpected appearance of the teacher, and the firstimpulse was to hide his club behind him; but it was too late, and,supposing that the teacher was ignorant of his designs, he went onsullenly with his work, feeling, however, greatly embarrassed.

"Pleasant day, boys," said the teacher. "This is a fine sunny nook foryou to talk in.

"Seems to me, however, you ought to have a better seat than this oldlog," continued he, taking his seat at the same time by the side of theboy.

"Not so bad a seat, however, after all. What are you making, Joseph?"

Joseph mumbled out something inarticulate by way of reply. "I have got asharper knife," said he, drawing his penknife out of his pocket. Andthen, "Let me try it," he continued, gently taking the club out ofJoseph's hand.

The boys looked surprised, some exchanged nods and winks, others turnedaway to conceal a laugh; but the teacher engaged in conversation withthem, and soon put them all at their ease except poor Joseph, who couldnot tell how this strange interview was likely to end.

In the mean time, the teacher went on shaving the handle smooth androunding the ends. "You want," said he, "a rasp or coarse file for theends, and then you could finish it finely. But what are you making thisformidable club for?"

Joseph was completely at a loss what to say. He began to show evidentmarks of embarrassment and confusion.

"I know what it is for; it is to defend yourself against me with. Is itnot, boys?" said he, appealing to the others.

A faint "Yes, sir" or two was the reply.

"Well, now, Joseph, it will be a great deal better for us both to befriends than to be enemies. You had better throw this club away, andsave yourself from punishment by being a good boy. Come, now," said he,handing him back his club, "throw it over into the field as far as youcan, and we will all forget that you ever made it."

Joseph sat the picture of shame and confusion. Better feelings werestruggling for admission, and the case was decided by a broad-faced,good-natured-looking boy, who stood by his side, saying almostinvoluntarily,

"Better throw it, Joe."

The club flew, end over end, into the field. Joseph returned to hisallegiance, and never attempted to rise in rebellion again.

The ways by which boys engage in open, intentional disobedience are, ofcourse, greatly varied, and the exact treatment will depend upon thefeatures of the individual case; but the frankness, the openness, theplain dealing, and the kind and friendly tone which it is the object ofthe foregoing illustrations to exhibit, should characterize all.

9. We have already alluded to the importance of a delicate regard forthe _characters_ of the boys in all the measures of discipline adoptedat the commencement of a school. This is, in fact, of the highestimportance at all times, and is peculiarly so at the outset. A wound tothe feelings is sometimes inflicted by a single transaction whichproduces a lasting injury to the character. Children are very sensitiveto ridicule or disgrace, and some are most acutely so. A cutting reproofadministered in public, or a punishment which exposes the individual tothe gaze of others, will often burn far more deeply into the heart thanthe teacher imagines.

And it is often the cause of great and lasting injury, too. Bydestroying the character of a pupil, you make him feel that he hasnothing more to lose or gain, and destroy that kind of interest in hisown moral condition which alone will allure him to virtuous conduct. Toexpose children to public ridicule or contempt tends either to make themsullen and despondent, or else to arouse their resentment and to makethem reckless and desperate. Most persons remember through life someinstances in their early childhood in which they were disgraced orridiculed at school, and the permanence of the recollection is a test ofthe violence of the effect.

Be very careful, then, to avoid, especially at the commencement of theschool, publicly exposing those who do wrong. Sometimes you may make theoffense public, as in the case of the snapping of the lath, describedunder a former head, while you kindly conceal the name of the offender.Even if the school generally understand who he is, the injury of publicexposure is almost altogether avoided, for the sense of disgrace doesnot come nearly so vividly home to the mind of a child from hearingoccasional allusions to his offense by individuals among his playmates,as when he feels himself, at a particular time, the object of universalattention and dishonor. And then, besides, if the pupil perceives thatthe teacher is tender of his reputation, he will, by a feeling somewherebetween imitation and sympathy, begin to feel a little tender of it too.Every exertion should be made, therefore, to lead children to valuetheir character, and to help them to preserve it, and especially toavoid, at the beginning, every unnecessary sacrifice of it.

And yet there are cases where shame is the very best possible remedy forjuvenile faults. If a boy, for example, is self-conceited, bold, andmischievous, with feelings somewhat callous, and an influence extensiveand bad, an opportunity will sometimes occur to hold up his conduct tothe just reprobation of the school with great advantage. By this means,if it is done in such a way as to _secure_ the influence of the schoolon the right side, many good effects are sometimes attained. His prideand self-conceit are humbled, his bad influence receives a very decidedcheck, and he is forced to draw back at once from the prominent stand hehas occupied.

Richard Jones, for example, is a rude, coarse, self-conceited boy, oftendoing wrong both in school and out, and yet possessed of that peculiarinfluence which a bad boy often contrives to exert in school. Theteacher, after watching some time for an opportunity to humble him, oneday overhears a difficulty among the boys, and, looking out of thewindow, observes that he is taking away a sled from one of the littleboys to slide down hill upon, having none of his own. The little boyresists as well as he can, and complains bitterly, but it is of noavail.

At the close of the school that day, the teacher commences conversationon the subject as follows:

"Boys, do you know what the difference is between stealing and robbery?"

"Yes, sir."

"What!"

The boys hesitate, and look at one another.

"Suppose a thief were to go into a man's store in the daytime, and takeaway something secretly, would it be stealing or robbery?"

"Stealing."

"Suppose he should meet him in the road, and take it away by force?"

"Then it would be robbery."

"Yes; when that which belongs to another is taken secretly, it is calledstealing; when it is taken openly or with violence, it is calledrobbery. Which, now, do you think is the worst?"

"Robbery."

"Yes, for it is more barefaced and determined--then it gives a greatdeal more pain to the one who is injured. To-day I saw one of the boysin this school taking away another boy's sled, openly and withviolence."

The boys all look round toward Richard.

"Was that of the nature of stealing or robbery?

"Robbery," say the boys.

"Was it real robbery?"

They hesitate.

"If any of you think of any reason why it was not real robbery, you mayname it."

"He gave the sled back to him," says one of the boys.

"Yes; and therefore, to describe the action correctly, we should not sayRichard robbed a boy of his sled, but that he robbed him of his sled_for a time_, or he robbed him of the _use_ of his sled. Still, inrespect to the nature and the guilt of it, it was robbery.

"There is another thing which ought to be observed about it. Whose sledwas it that Richard took away?"

"James Thompson's."

"James, you may stand up.

"Notice his size, boys. I should like to have Richard Jones stand uptoo, so that you might compare them; but I presume he feels very muchashamed of what he has done, and it would be very unpleasant for him tostand up. You will remember, however, how large he is. Now when I was aboy, it used to be considered dishonorable and cowardly for a large,strong boy to abuse a little one who can not defend himself. Is itconsidered so now?"

"Yes, sir."

"It ought to be, certainly; though, were it not for such a case as this,we should not have thought of considering Richard Jones a coward. Itseems he did not dare to try to take away a sled from a boy who was asbig as himself, but attacked little James, for he knew he was not strongenough to defend himself."

Now, in some such cases as this, great good may be done, both inrespect to the individual and to the state of public sentiment inschool, by openly exposing a boy's misconduct. The teacher must alwaystake care, however, that the state of mind and character in the guiltyindividual is such that public exposure is adapted to work well as aremedy, and also that, in managing it, he carries the sympathies of theother boys with him. To secure this, he must avoid all harsh andexaggerated expressions or direct reproaches, and while he is mild, andgentle, and forbearing himself, lead the boys to understand and feel thenature of the sin which he exposes. The opportunities for doing this toadvantage will, however, be rare. Generally it will be best to managecases of discipline more privately, so as to protect the characters ofthose that offend.

The teacher should thus, in accordance with the directions we havegiven, commence his labors with careful circumspection, patience,frankness, and honest good-will toward every individual of his charge.He will find less difficulty at the outset than he would have expected,and soon have the satisfaction of perceiving that a mild but mostefficient government is quietly and firmly established in the littlekingdom over which he is called to reign.